We have become accustomed to Ammiano's notions about the role of city government, but are surprised that the others seem to be ignoring the grim local history of AIDS and the part that gay bathhouses played in spreading HIV in the early 1980s before they closed.

Since the AIDS epidemic began about 15 years ago, 16,072 people have died of the disease in San Francisco, and 30,200 residents are currently living with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- according to the city Health Department's latest statistics. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation estimates that about one-in-25 residents are HIV positive and nearly half of all gay men living in the city are infected.

Against that tragic background, Ammiano is preparing a law under which the city would grant permits to businesses "that encourage patrons to engage in or to watch other patrons engage in sexual activities."

Ammiano argues that licensing would help regulate the score-or-so underground sex clubs, catering to a variety of sexual tastes, currently operating in the city.

The distinction between bathhouses and sex clubs is minor. One provides showers, jacuzzis and private sex cubicles; the other offers a large open room where patrons gather for sex in a partylike atmosphere. Both charge an admission fee.

Dr. Mitchell Katz, head of the health department's AIDS office, agrees with Ammiano. "If you are operating a sex club," he says, "we just want to create a set of rules."

We agree that city government should continue to improve its anti-AIDS education programs and encourage individual responsibility. But licensing sex clubs is not a move in that direction.

San Francisco has seen the sad results of tolerating bathhouses and sex clubs, and should not license or endorse the kind of promiscuous, anonymous and potentially deadly dangerous activity that Ammiano's proposed law would sanction and encourage.